Andrea Pirlo [Midfielder]

The hurt is still strong amongst ya’ll.

The dude didn’t try to perform bad in New York.

Our system sucked, our pitch sucked and no one could have foreseen Pirlo’s style of play translating that bad to MLS.

It also didn’t help that SO many guys did so poorly with passes received from Pirlo.
 
The hurt is still strong amongst ya’ll.

The dude didn’t try to perform bad in New York.

Our system sucked, our pitch sucked and no one could have foreseen Pirlo’s style of play translating that bad to MLS.

It also didn’t help that SO many guys did so poorly with passes received from Pirlo.

I don't think anyone denies his talent. At his stage of a career he needed to have very good players around him. He's not a scorer. He's a passer. Hard to judge that on a team like he was on. His lack of defense is what ultimately did him in with the fans. It was fun seeing him here and I wished it turned out better.
 
I think people tend to judge his stay here on his last season, when he sat on the bench behind Herrera, and not on his first season or season-and-a-half when his passing was terrific - opening up defenses and creating chances.

I agree with this, his contributions his first year and a half were generally good and people have forgotten them based on the final season. The free kicks which is what this conversations started with however were an issue over his entire time with us, especially when we look at all the kicks he wasted from scoring positions at the top of the box. Those can't be blamed on teammates and field conditions. The fans annoyance was only amplified by the fact that he was taking those chances away from Villa who converted them at a much higher rate before he arrived and after he left. Add in the "he's the greatest free kick taker of all time nonsense" from the fanboys and I'd say if you isolate down to just the free kicks from scoring positions the fans annoyance was reasonably justified.
 
I agree with this, his contributions his first year and a half were generally good and people have forgotten them based on the final season. The free kicks which is what this conversations started with however were an issue over his entire time with us, especially when we look at all the kicks he wasted from scoring positions at the top of the box. Those can't be blamed on teammates and field conditions. The fans annoyance was only amplified by the fact that he was taking those chances away from Villa who converted them at a much higher rate before he arrived and after he left. Add in the "he's the greatest free kick taker of all time nonsense" from the fanboys and I'd say if you isolate down to just the free kicks from scoring positions the fans annoyance was reasonably justified.
how many free kicks did villa actually score after Pirlo left? im almost positive its gotta be less than 3 but not sure how to look up the stat.

also, hes widely considered one of the best free kick takers of all time. His time at NYCFC and his failure to convert here doesnt change that.
 
how many free kicks did villa actually score after Pirlo left? im almost positive its gotta be less than 3 but not sure how to look up the stat.

also, hes widely considered one of the best free kick takers of all time. His time at NYCFC and his failure to convert here doesnt change that.

EDIT: Found the stat. he scored 1.

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REAL EDIT: that was supposed to be an edit not an extra reply, i fucked up
 
how many free kicks did villa actually score after Pirlo left? im almost positive its gotta be less than 3 but not sure how to look up the stat.

also, hes widely considered one of the best free kick takers of all time. His time at NYCFC and his failure to convert here doesnt change that.

Yeah I don't think anything that happened at nycfc affects his legacy at all. It just added to the frustration, as it seems like free kick ability is a skill that should be less affected by age. The obnoxious thing from the fan side was the hardcore vocal Pirlo that were adamant that he should be taking every free kick regardless of 2 years of evidence that for whatever reason that magic was gone and it was costing us goals.
 
The hurt is still strong amongst ya’ll.

The dude didn’t try to perform bad in New York.

Our system sucked, our pitch sucked and no one could have foreseen Pirlo’s style of play translating that bad to MLS.

It also didn’t help that SO many guys did so poorly with passes received from Pirlo.
His free kicks weren’t influenced by our system or quality of the pitch.... the league uses regulation goals and the imperial system of units/measurement is the same.... a 20yrd free kick is a 20yrd free kick.
 
Wow, that was pretty nasty.

What was he supposed to do there? Put up his hand and punch it over the bar? Because nothing else was going to make a difference.

people always will credit the effort of trying to make the stop by jumping. even if the "effort" has 99.9% chance of failing anyway.
 
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